Mbarara-Katuna Road cost not inflated - EU
Part of the Northern Bypass in Kampala funded by the European Union that allegedly threatened to withdraw funding for the second phase of the same road over inflated costs. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
The EU, who are funding the projects, say the nature of work on the Mbarara-Katuna Road and the Gatuna-Kigali Road are different as the former is in a severe condition, while the latter is a rehabilitation of a road in a fairly good condition.
The European Union delegation to Uganda has clarified that reports saying the construction costs of the Mbarara-Katuna were inflated compared to the costs of Gatuna—Kigali road in Rwanda, were false.
In his state of the nation address at year end 2011, President Museveni lamented that he had been briefed that the Mbarara-Katuna Road was being constructed expensively yet a similar road in Rwanda was costing less.
But reacting to the reports, the EU that funds both roads, said in a statement that the nature of work on the two roads were different as the Mbarara-Katuna project is a reconstruction and expansion of a road in bad condition, while Gatuna-Kigali project is a rehabilitation of a road in a fairly good condition.
“The design life of the Mbarara-Katuna Road is 20 years, while that of Gatuna- Kigali is 10 years. Materials per kilometre to be used for the Ugandan project are more than double the ones to be used in the Rwanda project,” read the statement.
The head of EU delegation, Dr Roberto Ridolfi, said the procurement process for the contractors on both road projects has carefully followed the transparency and competition requirements of the EU-ACP procurement rules and it is at the moment under scrutiny of competent authorities.
Report had indicated that the EU was angered by public allegations about the higher costs of Mbarara-Katuna Road and threatened to withhold funding for the second phase of the Northern Bypass. However, they declined to answer our question on that subject.
Uganda National Roads Authority executive director Peter Sebanakitta said after the reports were given to the President, they sent a delegation to Rwanda that also met with the EU delegation in Kigali for an indepth appreciation of the difference between the Mbarara-Katuna and Gatuna-Kigali Road projects.
“Whoever took that story to the President made a simplistic conclusion. They just divided the length of the road and the cost without engineering considerations,” he said.
According to Mr Sebanakitta, the Mbarara road was far superior to the Rwandan one and has to be done well because it carries more traffic than the Kigali one. The Mbarara road, a total of 123 kilometres, cost Euros 117m (Shs351 billion) while the Gatuna-Kigali Road, a total of 77 kilometres, cost Euros 47m (Shs141 billion) .
The three-year road project is the largest in Uganda and Rwanda to be funded by the EU grant. Construction work started in August 2011 and is expected to be completed in August 2014.
